Spotted: Operation G.T.F.O.H.!

Spotted: Operation G.T.F.O.H.!

“Aww, crap, we gotta go!” I quickly stated as I wrapped Twilight in one arm, grabbed the book bag in my other hand, cradled them in my arms like a football, and high-tailed it out of there with extreme haste.

“Wait, why?? What about th— WHOA!” Twilight tried to hurriedly ask as I whisked her away. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but I bolted across a street adjacent to the park to escape our “predator.”

“Dude, wait! I just want to talk to her!” The stranger called after me, surprisingly keeping up. “My friends and I would LOVE to meet her!”

“Nah, we good, dawg!” I yelled back, sprinting full speed towards no particular destination except away from the guy who spotted us. I could feel the adrenaline beginning to fuel my every step as I charged forward, not caring about my own fatigue quickly setting in as sweat was beginning to drench me.

“I don’t think he wants to do us any harm! Plus, he already knows I’m a pony! Maybe we should stop and let him talk!” Twilight shakily said as she bounced around in my arm.

“And risk… exposin’ you to the… whole world? No!” I hastily objected as I ran, bobbing and weaving through small groups of people as they walked by. “I can’t…! risk you bein’ taken…! away and experimented on…! or some craziness like that!” I ran in that direction for four blocks before making a sharp right and ducking behind a tall building to catch my breath and put Twilight back into the bag. I peeked back to see the heavy man nowhere to be found.

“I thought I was supposed to learn more about this world, not hide from everyone in it,” Twilight disappointedly stated as she looked at me, visibly upset and frowning. “I don’t get why I have to hide from everyone… Especially since that guy already knew what I am…”

“You are… hah… learning… hah… But I think it’s better if… you learn undercover… hah… that way, you… hah… can get all the info you… need without bein’ bombarded… with all kinds of stuff from people… who could  possibly wind up takin’ you away to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what to you,” I replied breathlessly, but with concern for the unicorn’s safety. “You came… to me, and I want… to keep you safe.”

“I can take care of myself, y’know. I’m not a foal,” Twilight shot back, seeming to be offended by my concern.

“I understand that, Twilight, but please… trust me on this. I don’t want you to think… you couldn’t-a taken this trip on your own or… handled yourself better than I been doin’, but I… I guess I care too much t’ see anything bad happen t’ you, especially in a world… you ain’t even been to before. A hasty confession, yes, but—!”

“Please, say no more,” Twilight sternly interrupted.

“Listen, you! I—!” I began, taking a tone of frustration, but I abruptly stopped when I looked at her. Her eyes were glimmering in the afternoon sunset, tears forming in them as she gave me yet another one of her heartwarming smiles. “Y’know, that smile of yours could be dangerous…” I quietly joked as the tension I was feeling had melted away.

“How so, Ty?” She asked, climbing her way partly out of the bag to offer a hug.

“It’s just so ador— Wait, why are you callin’ me ‘Ty?’” I asked as I kneeled down to embrace the unicorn.

“I figured it’s easier to remember. You can call me ‘Twi’ so we’re even, if you’d like,” Twilight innocently suggested.

“You have no idea how many times I done got that as a reason for someone not to call me by my full name… But sure… Twi,” I quipped with a small chortle as she and I still hugged each other firmly.

“THERE SHE IS, DUDE! WITH THAT BLACK GUY!” A familiar voice screamed from down the street, bringing both the unicorn and I, now back on good terms, back into the situation at hand.

“Looks like we gonna hafta cut this moment of ours short…”  I murmured to Twilight, quickly getting up as she ducked into the bag. I zipped it shut and took off in the opposite direction of our pursuer.

“Dude, wait!” The familiar voice called after me with a tone akin to worry.

“We just want to see what’s in the bag!” Another voice shouted.

“Yeah, don’t run!” Yet another voice shouted as I heard their footsteps trailing behind me.

“Aww great… This persistent sumbitch done got his friends on me…” I growled through my clenched teeth, ignoring all of their pleas for me to stop as I sprinted away from them. They expectantly gave chase, seeming willing to follow me to Hell and back just to get their hands on Twilight. I ran to the edge of the sidewalk and made another sharp right into a shopping center’s parking lot that was filled with parked vehicles. I frantically looked for a place to hide, eventually choosing to duck behind the largest vehicle in the area.

“What’s going on out there?” Twi whispered. “Can you get away from them?”

“I ain’t sure... at this point… They seem… hah… persistent,” I answered breathlessly as I caught a glimpse at two of the men coming into the parking lot from the same direction I’d entered. I heard the sound of Twilight’s horn activating, which must have meant she was getting her own view of the surroundings.

“Where’s the third one…?” I asked myself.

“Behind you, behind you...!” Twi whispered anxiously. I heard her horn suddenly stop twinkling. I turned around and sure enough, the missing man, a rather thin fellow wearing a large light blue hoodie with a strange-looking cloud and rainbow lightning bolt design on it was creeping his way towards us. I dashed from behind the truck we were hiding behind and headed towards the supermarket it was parked in front of, but stopped, stumbling and almost falling over as I saw the heavyset guy already standing there waiting, smiling with an almost-lustful look on his face.

“Try the other way...” Twilight advised. I obeyed, quickly turning around and running some more, but I didn’t get far before another one of the trio of would-be pony-nappers popped up from behind a car in an attempt to catch me off guard. This guy seemed to be a bit more muscular than the guy in the hoodie, but he was wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans. However, the noticeable thing about him was his hat; it was a bright white baseball cap with a dark purple brim, but the logo on it was for some team I hadn’t seen or heard of before. The logo was a trio of light blue rhombus-shaped diamonds set up in a sideways equilateral triangular formation.

“Nrrgh… dammit…!”  I grumbled, clenching a fist in frustration as I backed away from the man in the diamond hat. “We’re surrounded… any ideas?” I whispered to Twilight, looking around frantically and backing up from the man in the hat as all three men slowly closed in on me like hungry lions on an injured antelope…